Is An Ozone Air Purifier Effective For Cleaning Smoke Odor?

The question about whether ozone air purifiers are effective against contaminants in the air has been challenged by bodies such as the EPA. The claims that are often seen around the traps is that if you have a smoke damaged home following a fire one of the ways to remove the smoke odor is to use an ozone air purifier and the smoke odor would soon be cleared away.

According to the EPA the scientific evidence that is available at the moment shows that ozone has little potential to remove indoor air contaminants. In fact, the scientific evidence has indicated that for many of the chemicals that are commonly found indoors it will take months or years for an ozone reaction to clear the air.

A further warning about using ozone air purifiers is that when the ozone comes in contact with certain chemicals there is the possibility of a chemical reaction that can be harmful to the health, possibly triggering allergies. Ozone air purifiers that contain an ionizer in the same unit are often said to be most effective for the clearing of smoke particles. Experiments have shown that ionizers were found to be less effective in removing particles of dust, tobacco smoke, pollen or fungal spores than either high efficiency particle filters or electrostatic precipitators.

Given that the main reason you would want to use an ozone air purifier as part of a fire damage restoration process is to remove odors from the house it is a little concerning to read that ozone is not effective at removing many odors.

There is data available that demonstrates that low levels of ozone may reduce levels of airborne concentrations and inhibit the growth of some biological organisms. The downside to this finding is that the level of ozone would have to be 5-10 times higher than public health standards allow before the ozone could decontaminate the air.

So if ozone air purifiers aren’t the answer for removing smoke odor from a smoke damaged home one wonders what methods of air pollution control are we left with?

There are three common ways that you can approach reducing air pollution and odor from an affected room:

1. Source Control: Remove the source of the pollution.
2. Ventilation: get as much air into the room from the outside as possible, and
3. Air Cleaning: remove the pollutants from the room using proven air cleaning methods.

This leaves the way open to wonder what the proven air cleaning methods are. Three types of air cleaner is currently on the market: mechanical filters, electronic air cleaners and ion generators.

Mechanical filters can be installed in the ducting of homes with central heating or air-conditioning or, if they are not available, as stand alone devices containing a fan to force the air through the filter. Electronic air cleaners use an electrical field to trap charged particles and ion generators use static charges to remove particles from indoor air.

All of these devices are effective for removing airborne particles from the air but they can only work as quickly as they can push air through the system. Unless the devices are particularly strong they will only move around 10 cubic feet per minute which means that it will take a long time to process the air in a room of around 1000 cubic feet.

Fire Smoke Damage in Unexpected Items

A fire will cause more damage than simply the obvious scorching or complete combustion that is plain to see after every fire. One of the challenges that confronts anyone coming in after the fire with the intention of cleaning up will be given the challenge of dealing with heat and smoke damage too.

Take, for instance, your CD player. It may look as if it has been completely spared by the fire, after all it is sitting in a part of the room that was not consumed by the flames. But a closer look, perhaps a look inside the casing of the CD player may reveal a different story. With tremendous heat being generated from close range it is very likely that considerable damage could have been done to the electrical components inside the player’s casing.

It will be necessary to disassemble just about all of your electrical devices in the house to check that they have not been melted or otherwise damaged during the blaze. Many of the working parts in these types of machines are actually made of plastic and it doesn’t take a particularly hot heat to melt or warp these pieces.

Another important consideration to make after a fire is the smoke damage that will have been done to food. Any food that was exposed to the fire will have to be removed and disposed of. Even though it looks like the food has survived the fire unscathed, the smoke generated by the fire will have penetrated deeply into the surface of any fresh fruit or vegetables as well as any container that was exposed to the elements. Don’t risk it – chuck it out.

Painted surfaces that have been damaged by smoke or heat will usually be noticeably affected with bubbling or discoloration. The smoke damage must be cleaned off the walls first and a very effective product to use to perform the cleaning is TSP which is available at paint or hardware stores. If necessary the old and damaged paint should be stripped from the walls. There are some sealing paint products available that can be used to paint over smoke damaged walls.

Fire smoke damage in the house structure and furnishings has been dealt with in much greater detail elsewhere at this site. You can read more about what steps to take when confronted with major smoke damage by hopping over to the page titled

Smoke Damage Restoration Steps

Smoke Damage Cleaning Products

In order to perform an adequate cleaning job after fire has gone through the property, your restoration specialist requires proper cleaning products. Part of the restoration work that is required must address the smoke damage that has taken place.

Smoke is the result of partial combustion of the fuel that feeds the fire and forms as visible particles in the air during the fire. These particles are absorbed into just about everything they come in contact with and linger long after the fire has been extinguished in the form of stains or odor. It doesn’t matter whether the surface is a hard surface such as a floor, wall or ceiling or a soft surface such as clothes, carpets or blankets smoke will get into everything and must be dealt with for any hope that it will be removed again.

Smoke damage cleaning products will include chemical cleaners such as the ones that are available from Winsol . For soot stains that have accumulated on the walls and ceilings you would need a dry chemical sponge to begin the soot removal process.

Some chemical products are available as air neutralizers that help you to eliminate the smoke odor from hard surfaces and textiles, speeding up the restoration process. It won’t completely eliminate all smoke odors but it will give you a good start and reduce the time required to complete a thermal fogging of the home.

That brings us to thermal fogging itself. Just as the smoke particles penetrate deeply into the pores of hard surfaces and is then trapped, an effective way to remove the odors is to complete a thermal fogging. Thermal fog replicates the penetration process, only instead of smoke a deodorizing mist is sent into the surface. The fog then attacks the smoke particles and neutralizes them. One complaint with thermal fogging is that although the smoke odor is removed, it is replaced by the chemical odor sued in the thermal fogger. This will dissipate reasonably rapidly but until it does the strong smell may cause distress.

Another product that may be used as part of a smoke restoration is an ozone treatment using an ozone generator. The ozone treatment produces an oxidizing agent that creates an aroma similar to that of a rain storm. The process breaks up the smoke particles eliminating the smoke odor from the room. Clothing and household furniture can be put through this type of ozone treatment by placing them under a tent while the ozone generator is operating.

Removing smoke odor from clothing will be possible through laundering although the success you have will depend heavily on the amount of smoke damage that has been done to the fabric. The majority of clothes can most effectively be restored by using a warm water wash with either a non-built liquid detergent or a low phosphate powder detergent and a liquid chlorine bleach. Tests have shown that the best results can be achieved after the equivalent of 5 washes. One or two washes won’t be enough to give you the level of cleaning that you are seeking.

All of the smoke damage cleaning products needed for a proper smoke restoration can be found quite readily and don’t need a lot of training to use. However, for the best results in performing the restoration it is advisable to talk to the fire restoration experts before taking any action. In most cases, even then, leave it to the people who do that kind of work for a living.

For more reading on this subject:

Smoke Damage Restoration Steps

Smoke Damage Restoration Steps

It would be stating the obvious to say that fires can cause extensive damage to homes and property. But the damage is not only limited to the easy to see soot and scorch marks that you would be confronted with once you are allowed to re-enter your home. Another lingering leftover from a house fire is the smoke damage that has become ingrained into the hard and soft surfaces of the house.

As a fire progresses inside a house, or anywhere for that matter, the heat expands the pores in the wall and the smoke is able to find its way into those pores and fill them up. As the fire is extinguished the house cools and the pores close again, trapping the smoke within them. The smoke odor is gradually released as the house warms up on sunny days and cools again at night. Effectively the house is breathing but it emits a sickeningly bad breath that reminds you every day of the traumatic fire.

The first step that you, as a fire victim, should take in beginning any restoration process is to contact your insurance company who should be able to assess the extent of the damage and advise you on what may be able to be saved, repaired or restored.

Before attempting to enter the home after a fire, there are some fire safety procedures that should be observed. The most critical of these is to wait until the fire department has given the all clear that it is safe to enter. A house that has been fire damaged is a very unstable environment. It is not always obvious that the fire has been completely extinguished and any sudden gust of wind could reignite the fire from what appears to be a smoldering ruin.

Also, if there are still walls and ceilings standing, as will be the case after relatively small house fires, the structure will have been weakened by the flames. Taking note of where you can and can’t walk as well as what you can and can’t touch is vital.

The smoke and fumes produced from the fire are highly toxic and can travel extensively throughout the house penetrating paint, carpet, clothes, curtains and upholstery. Furthermore, it can become trapped in air conditioning ducts, within walls and ceilings.

Whether your home has been affected by a raging inferno that has consumed the entire structure or a localized fire that looks to have only affected one room, there will be soot and smoke issues to deal with.

It may be tempting to try to use scented sprays and perfumes to try to combat the smoke odor that nearly overwhelms the room. But doing this will only mask the smell and will only mask the smell for a short period of time. After that the smoke odor will return, only this time it will be mingled with stale perfume creating an even more stomach-turning odor.

There are a number of different methods that professional fire damage restoration experts can employ to remove smoke from the house. It all depends on the type of cleaning or restore work that is involved and it certainly depends on the type of materials that have been smoke affected.

Cleaning Soft Materials

The first stage in cleaning fire damage in the house may involve general soot and ash removal from the floors and other surfaces such as rugs or carpets.

Soot is an oily substance and should be removed with a powerful vacuum that sucks straight off the surface that is being cleaned without the use of brushes. The brushes will push the soot deeper into the fabric and make the cleaning process even more difficult. Holding the nozzle of the vacuum just above the surface that is being cleaned will smoothly draw the soot up and away without the possibility of driving it into the fabric further.

A proper carpet cleaning will be required after the rest of the fire damage restoration process has been completed. When it comes time to do the carpet cleaning you will want to use a heavy duty rotary scrubber or an extraction machine. Many of these can be hired from the local supermarket or from a tool hire company.

You may wish to launder your clothes and bedclothes to remove the smoke odor from them. This will probably require multiple washings before the odor is completely removed. Soaking overnight before washing may improve results.

An alternative method to rid your clothes and other soft furnishings of lingering smoke odors is to use an ozone generator. This may either be done in a small room or in a portable tent, either way the materials are placed inside the chamber along with the ozone generator which then operates for any length of time from a few hours to a few days. The ozone works to break up the smoke molecules as it circulates through the clothing and, because ozone is heavier than air it eventually falls to the floor. The ozone treatment produces an oxidizing agent leaving a pleasant, fresh smell in place of the smoke odor.

This process may also be used by professional fire damage restorers on upholstered furniture, placing them in a tent and running the ozone generator, allowing the ozone to penetrate deeply into the upholstered fabric.

Cleaning Hard Surfaces

Here we return back to the smoke-laden pores of the house that intermittently release that smoke odor after being trapped during the fire. Thermal fogging is used to counter this process. Thermal fogging works by applying a heated fog, saturated with a deodorizing agent to the affected surfaces. The heat of the fog opens the pores and neutralizes the smoke odor. This method is the single most effective way to treat deeply smoke affected surfaces and hard materials.

While on the subject of thermal fogging, it can also be used to rid the air of smoke particulates that are still hanging in the air. The thermal fogging process bonds the mist particles to the soot and smoke particles and removes them from the air.

Smoke damage will cause discoloration on the walls and ceiling. The marks left behind are a sooty residue. If the charring has not gone too deeply into the surface of the walls or ceiling it may be possible to clean them. Use chemicals such as trisodium phosphate (TSP) diluted in warm water and scrub vigorously with a sponge. The TSP is a corrosive chemical so gloves and goggles must be warn as protection while working.

The washing process may require a number of applications before the surfaces are cleaned satisfactorily. If the walls or ceiling still display discoloration, it may be necessary to repaint.

It should be remembered that one cleaning agent will not be sufficient to clean all affected surfaces. Different agents work on different surfaces and what works best with what must be checked for potential problems. That’s if you are left with no choice but to attempt the restoration yourself.

All of these smoke damage restoration tips and techniques will be best carried out by the proper trained restoration professionals. Apart from working in a dangerous environment, you may be working with dangerous chemicals that could cause injury to you or further damage to your possessions if not used correctly. Fire damage restoration experts handle these products on a regular basis, can assess what can be saved and what cannot and are used to working in fire affected sites.

This short article is meant to give you a basic guideline of what to expect to happen in the process of restoring your home after a fire. It is not an instructional piece that you can use with the expectation that it is complete. The fire damage restoration experts will walk you through the process that they intend to use and, armed with this information, you will have a clearer understanding of what they are talking about.

Fire Damage Cleanup Tips

During bushfire season the risk of fire damage is great in some areas which has prompted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to issue recommendations to local residents about how they might conduct a fire damage cleanup. These tips are to help to remove smoke and fire damage in and around the house.

• Launder or dry clean all clothing.

• Pressure wash, scrub or disinfect all exterior surfaces including walls, walks, drives, decks, window and deck screens, etc.

• Wash and disinfect all interior walls and hard surfaces with mild soap or other appropriate cleaning solutions or products, and rinse thoroughly. Don't forget inside cabinets, drawers and closets.

• Wash, dust or otherwise clean all household items, including knick-knacks.

• Disinfect and deodorize all carpets, window coverings, upholstered furniture and mattresses with steam or other appropriate equipment.

• Upholstery, fabric window treatments, etc. can be spray-treated with deodorizing products available at most supermarkets, but do not use odor-masking sprays.

• Have heating, ventilating and air-conditioning units and all ductwork professionally cleaned to remove soot, ash and smoke residue. Change filters when you first return to the premises and at least once a month for the first year.

• If aerial fire retardant or firefighting foam residue is present on the house and/or automobiles, use a mild detergent and brushes to scrub and dilute the dried residue and flush it from the surfaces; rinse with clean water. A follow-up with pressure washing may be beneficial but will not replace scrubbing to remove the residue.

• Ash and soot on the ground and vegetation in the vicinity will continue to generate smoke odors and airborne particles when disturbed by air movement. Until the ash and soot are diluted and absorbed by the environment, indoor mechanical air filtration may help minimize the uncomfortable and potentially health-threatening impact of these pollutants.

With a house fire cleanup the steps you take will have to be carefully considered so that further damage is not inflicted upon your possessions. On a similar note, take extra care when moving around the damaged property to ensure that you don't misstep and go through a weakened part of the floor or cause the collapse of unstable structures.

Moving outside the house we come to a different kind of fire restoration consideration which comes in relation to the effects on the landscape around the home after a firestorm. In this case there may be considerable damage to the soil upon which the house sits making the landscape itself extremely unstable. Because there will be a lack of vegetation following a large fire there is a real chance of soil erosion which makes another potential hazard for the home. One of the tasks that should be undertaken is to select some fast growing plant species for the land around the house that will help to preserve the soil.

What is not mentioned by the FEMA guidelines is that the best plan for a fire damage cleanup is to contact a fire damage restoration firm. These professionals are equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary to get the best fire damage cleanup results possible.

There is quite a lot of stress surrounding any kind of disaster, particularly when you home and loved ones are involved, Fire Water Damage Restoration attempts to explain some of the options that are open to you to make things a little easier.